‘Barbie’ stars, Nicolas Cage to descend on downtown San Francisco

Big names, bigwigs and Gerwigs will descend on San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts for the SFFILM awards night on Dec. 4, an event that IndieWire described as San Francisco’s “awards stop on the road to the Oscars.”

The evening’s big winner is Greta Gerwig, whom SFFILM will honor with an award for direction. Gerwig, who hails from Sacramento, is famous for directing “Lady Bird” and writing the mumblecore classic “Frances Ha.” SFFILM said the award will be presented by Ryan Gosling, co-star of her most recent film, “Barbie,” which was a box office success so staggering that some speculated that it could save movie theaters after the pandemic shuttered many nationwide.

SFFILM will recognize Cord Jefferson, who won an Emmy for his writing on the television series “Watchmen,” with a virtuosity award. His newest film, “American Fiction,” premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival this year. Roger Ross Williams, whose documentary short “Music by Prudence” made him the first African American director to win an Academy Award, will receive the award for storytelling. In past SFFILM awards nights, Boots Riley and Maggie Gyllenhaal won the storytelling award.

Nicolas Cage will receive SFFILM’s lifetime achievement award for acting. His career has been marked by an incredible variety of roles, ranging from work with auteur directors like David Lynch on “Wild at Heart,” to recent indie “Dream Scenario” and in action blockbusters, like when he played both the hero and villain of John Woo’s 1997 film “Face/Off.” SFFILM’s lifetime achievement award for acting is an accolade shared by “Barbie” star Margot Robbie and Robin Williams.